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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27257899">The Things We Dream</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReneeoftheStars/pseuds/ReneeoftheStars'>ReneeoftheStars</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Dreaming, Dreams, Family, Found Family</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 01:13:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,216</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27257899</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReneeoftheStars/pseuds/ReneeoftheStars</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes even Sith lords don't sleep well. Count Dooku and Asajj Ventress dream of the paths they want most.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dooku &amp; Asajj Ventress, master and apprentice - Relationship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>33</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Things We Dream</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It began as a dream Dooku often found himself having.</p>
<p>It wasn’t acceptable, of course. Dead wishes and repressed memories were not appropriate for a Sith Lord to reminisce about. If he were able to manipulate his dreams, he’d choose something else to entertain himself while he slept.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, that was not a skill he possessed.</p>
<p>It started the same as several of his other reoccurring dreams. Dooku walked the halls of the Jedi Temple, light streaming in through the high windows, the smooth pillars rising around him. He wore his old Jedi robes; he sensed the kyber crystal in his lightsaber singing at his side. Sometimes the corridors abounded with beings; racing younglings and murmuring Masters would greet him as they passed. This time, he was alone.</p>
<p>In his dreams, he often visited the training rooms, the Archives, or the Council Chamber. Sometimes, he remained in the rooms he called his own while living at the Temple. More than once, he even dreamed of sneaking into the vault containing the Bogan Collection, as he had as a Padawan. But this dream was different. This time, Dooku found himself walking towards the heart of the Temple, towards the Room of a Thousand Fountains.</p>
<p>The moment the doors parted for him, Dooku was imbued with a sudden calm he had not felt in years. He breathed deeply, the scent of aeon-pine and burlow ferns filled his nose, the rushing of small streams and waterfalls hushing his thoughts. How many hours had he spent here with Master Yoda? With his Padawans? Even when he was alone, he would frequent these paths to center himself, to clear his mind. Nature teemed with the Force, and there was no greener place in all of Coruscant.</p>
<p>Dooku found himself barefoot, gentle grasses tickling his feet as he walked towards one of the calmer pools. It had always been his favorite. The ripples from the small cascading waterfalls didn’t reach this portion of water, leaving it mirror-like and still; the most serene place for mediation.</p>
<p>The water was not still in this dream.</p>
<p>As Dooku approached, he heard the sound of splashing. Rounding a cluster of tall qlomjeal bushes, the figures before him were thrown into sharp relief. Dooku stopped so suddenly he almost tripped.</p>
<p>Sitting on the edge of the pond, boots beside him and pantlegs rolled up to his knees, Qui-Gon Jinn reclined on his elbows, his legs submerged in the water. His hair was long and brown, not shot through with grey, his beard longer, a little less scruffy. He watched in amusement as a short, burly man treaded water in the pond, splashing an irritated younger man trying to meditate on a nearby rock.</p>
<p>“Concentrate, Obi-Wan,” Qui-Gon called cheerfully. “Do not allow physical distractions to hinder your focus.”</p>
<p>The younger man – Obi-Wan Kenobi, Dooku realized – sputtered indignantly as he tried to wipe water out of his beard. “Rael is making that a little difficult at the moment.”</p>
<p>From the pool, Rael Averross splashed him again, half-smirking. “Nothin’ you can’t handle, kid,” he drawled in his thick Ringo Vindan accent. He raised his eyes to Dooku. “Master! Glad you could make it.”</p>
<p>Qui-Gon and his apprentice looked up. Qui-Gon raised his eyebrows. “Never thought I’d live to see a day where I arrived before you.”</p>
<p>Dooku stared at him. Relief and confusion chased one another in his mind as he tried to figure out how this was possible. “You’re alive.”</p>
<p>“So I am.” He patted the ground beside him. “Come on, Master Dooku, we won’t bite.”</p>
<p>Distantly, Dooku obeyed, closing the distance between them. Some part of him knew he should be watching Kenobi, should be prepared for The Negotiator to attempt to apprehend him. But Dooku couldn’t take his eyes from Qui-Gon. He looked happy; smile lines crinkled his face, his mouth twitching as Kenobi wrung water out of his robes.</p>
<p>Dooku knelt beside him in the grass and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I thought I lost you, my old Padawan.”</p>
<p>“Never, Master.” Something gleamed in Qui-Gon’s eyes. “We are all part of the Living Force. And afterwards, part of the Cosmic Force. I’m afraid you’ll never be rid of me.”</p>
<p>“I would have it no other way.”</p>
<p>From the pool, Rael snorted. “Always knew he was your favorite apprentice. Not that I’m offended or anything.”</p>
<p>Dooku raised his eyes to the swimming man. He placed his hands in his lap and straightened. “You were my first apprentice, Rael. I know our relationship was tenuous at times. I recognize that I may not have been the Master you needed. But never doubt that I am proud of you.”</p>
<p>Rael seemed at a loss for words. He sunk up to his chin in the water, expression uncharacteristically thoughtful.</p>
<p>“It’s why I reached out to you,” Dooku continued. “I thought you would understand the significance of what I’d found – of <em>who</em> I’d found. I believed you would jump at the opportunity to claim the power you’ve always sought.”</p>
<p>The dark-haired man smiled, stretching out and floating on his back, gazing at the skylight above. “And I told you, like Qui-Gon here told me: We don’t choose the light because we want to win. We chose it because it is the light.”</p>
<p>“Even when you know the light cannot possibly win this war?” Dooku asked in bewilderment.</p>
<p>Kenobi spoke up. He seemed content sitting so near a Sith Lord. “The light may dim, but it can never be extinguished.”</p>
<p>“And the dark will always bide its time,” retorted Dooku, “waiting to strike.”</p>
<p>“Such is the nature of the Force,” Qui-Gon agreed. “One will never exist without the other. Not in the galaxy, and not within each of us.”</p>
<p>Discomfort settled in Dooku’s gut. He had always been happy to have such discussions in the past. But now… now it brought him nothing but a hollow feeling of despair. “I failed you both. If I knew then all that I know now…” The idea hung there, tantalizingly close. What could have been…</p>
<p>“We are as we are because of you,” Qui-Gon said, his voice barely louder than the waterfalls around them. “Your teachings shaped Rael and I, and by extent, Obi-Wan, Anakin, Ahsoka –”</p>
<p>Dooku held up his hand. “I hold no responsibility for Skywalker and Tano.”</p>
<p>“Oh, I try not to either,” Obi-Wan replied wryly. Once again, Dooku felt a pang of irritation at Kenobi’s refusal to join him. Together, they would be a force to be reckoned with. He was still talking, and Dooku forced himself to listen. “We are all reflections of our masters.”</p>
<p>“And what reflection are you, hmm, Dooku?”</p>
<p>The voice grated Dooku’s nerves. He propelled himself to his feet, feeling rage building in his chest.</p>
<p>Dwarfed by Dooku’s height, Yoda surveyed him calmly. </p>
<p>Dooku could feel the lighting crackling at his fingertips, itching to send the wretched master screaming to his death. But he couldn’t raise his hand to let loose the fury of the Sith.</p>
<p>Yoda tilted his head, hands clasped serenely on his gimer stick, waiting. “Wish me dead so badly, do you?”</p>
<p>“I – no, Master.” His thoughts were coming sluggishly. Yes, he wanted Yoda to die a painful death, but – but he <em>didn’t</em> want him to, either. Dooku shook his head, trying to clear it.</p>
<p>“Conflicted, you are. Conflicted, you have been for years. And help you, I did not.”</p>
<p>Something in Yoda’s voice caught Dooku’s attention. “You are angry with me, Master.”</p>
<p>“Angry? Hmm. No, Dooku, not angry. Saddened, I am.” Grunting, Yoda settled himself on a rock beside Kenobi. “Understand your frustrations, I do. And right, you are.”</p>
<p>He wasn’t expecting that. “You agree?”</p>
<p>“Hmm.” Yoda nodded, the ends of his long, pointed ears dipping. “From your experiences, I understand. From your emotions, I understand. But wrong you are, as well. Amplified by the Dark Side, your fears and misgivings are.” His mouth turned downward. “A reflection of our Masters, Master Kenobi says. Yes. We are. And in you, fractals of myself I see. Ambition. Dedication. Unyielding.” His frown deepened. “The desire to aid others. The desperation to do whatever it takes. Slipping too deeply into the allure of the Dark Side.”</p>
<p>Dooku shook himself, snapping back into focus. “I have made my choice.”</p>
<p>“Yes,” Yoda murmured. “Decided, your path is.”</p>
<p>They fell silent, watching one another. Beside him, Qui-Gon sighed, and Kenobi shifted uncomfortably. It was Rael who finally broke the silence. He pulled himself from the water and shook his hair, spraying water over all of them.</p>
<p>“Now that we’re all here,” he drawled, “how about that lightsaber practice?”</p>
<p>Lightsaber practice. Yes, of course. How could Dooku have forgotten?</p>
<p>“Soon. One more is still coming,” Qui-Gon said, drawing his legs from the pool and drying them on the grass.</p>
<p>Kenobi stood and stretched. “You’ll be pleased to know, Master, I’ve spent several hours this week improving my Makashi form.” He smiled at Dooku. “While I don’t believe I’ll ever be able to best you, I may be able to give you a run for your credits.”</p>
<p>In spite of himself, Dooku smiled. “I am sure you will, Master Kenobi.”</p>
<p>“Dooku! Doo! Hey, Doo!”</p>
<p>Dooku’s stomach dropped. He turned.</p>
<p>He was younger, happier, than Dooku remembered him last. His high-collared blue tabard seemed freshly pressed, his hair drawn back in a bun, save for two lengths of hair that hung on either side of his face. He was beaming.</p>
<p>Something tight coiled in Dooku’s chest, while joy cut through his sudden bout of grief. “Sifo-Dyas?”</p>
<p>Sifo-Dyas laughed and drew him into a tight embrace. Dooku latched onto him, his mind rushing with a thousand things he wanted to say. Yet when he opened his mouth to speak, nothing came out other than a quiet, “I’ve missed you, old friend.”</p>
<p>The other drew back, clasping Dooku’s shoulders. “Time is short. Let’s not dwell.” The smile had slipped from his face, but his eyes were still warm. “For now, let’s see how well you trained your apprentices.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When Dooku finally woke, his face was wet with tears.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>*                            *                            *</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Unlike her current master, when Asajj Ventress dreamed, she was able to manipulate her visions. And she used it to her advantage.</p>
<p>More often than not, she chose silence and blackness. Her dreams were too vivid, too realistic, and she had trouble telling them apart from reality – until she woke up for real, of course. But sometimes, she slipped up. Sometimes, she let her mind wander as she fell asleep, and the dreams came unbidden.</p>
<p>Tonight was one such night.</p>
<p>She had gone to sleep facing the window in the quarters Dooku had assigned to her. The mountains of Serenno rose in the darkness outside, dense forests covering them. As Ventress rested, she thought of how different the mountains of Rattatak were. Rocky and brown rather than smooth and green. Serenno’s cities lay in the valleys and on top of the peaks, whereas the towns of Rattatak were hewn into the mountainsides themselves. She smirked as she thought of how appropriately it reflected the personalities of the planets’ inhabitants; Serennians lived luxuriously, while the Rattataki eked out a living wherever they could.</p>
<p>She remembered the stone roofs and the dusty wind, the warmth of the sun and the constant shriek of blasterfire that reverberated in the air.</p>
<p>“Raiders!”</p>
<p>Ah, yes. It was always raiders. Warlords vied for power, alliances formed and crumbled with impressive swiftness, and violence reigned supreme. There were no innocents on Rattatak.</p>
<p>“Look out!”</p>
<p>Ventress turned away from the mountains and found a Siniteen staggering towards her, clutching his lobe-like head as blood gushed from a nasty-looking cut. Her lip curled in disgust. He looked like Hal’Sted, the being who had made her his servant as a child.</p>
<p>“Asajj,” he gasped, crumpling to the dusty ground at her feet, “we need you. The raiders are back. They’ve bombed the town square.”</p>
<p>“Not my problem,” she said, lazily turning from him.</p>
<p>He grabbed the hem of her skirt. “<em>Please</em>,” he begged.</p>
<p>She couldn’t help the leer that spread across her face. These people used to plead with her to save them, to protect them. They needed her. The thought of abandoning them was tempting. But if they would praise and reward her for her help…</p>
<p>Well. Why not?</p>
<p>She moved swiftly, leaving the Siniteen blubbering on the ground. The streets were the same as she remembered, and before long, she was surrounded by raiders. She cackled as they raised their blasters, closing her hands into fists and choking the life out of them, flinging them into one another, forcing them to fire on their comrades.</p>
<p>The power felt glorious.</p>
<p>Two raiders dropped down from the level above her, too close to get a grip on them through the Force. Ventress snatched a lightsaber from her belt and ignited it, slashing through them with a blaze of green –</p>
<p>Green?</p>
<p>She froze, staring at the glowing green blade in her hand. It wasn’t the curved hilt and bloodred blade she had used for years, but it was unmistakable. This was the first lightsaber she’d constructed under the guidance of –</p>
<p>“Asajj.”</p>
<p>“Leave me alone,” Ventress spat without turning around. “You’re nothing to me.”</p>
<p>“Clearly that’s not true.”</p>
<p>“This is a dream. And I want you gone.”</p>
<p>Silence greeted this statement, and Ventress thought for a moment she’d succeeded. Then a large, calloused hand touched her shoulder. “Asajj,” the voice said quietly. “Look at me.”</p>
<p>For some reason, she obeyed.</p>
<p>Ky Narec stepped back from her respectfully. His brows cast shadows over his eyes, the tattoos around his nose and chin making him look more severe than she remembered.</p>
<p>She sneered at him. “I’ve outgrown you, Ky.”</p>
<p>“Yet here I am. You think about me. I only wish I had been able to complete your training.”</p>
<p>Ventress scoffed. “It only took a single blaster bolt to the back to kill you. You were never as powerful as I thought you were.”</p>
<p>The Human’s eyebrows drew together, distressed. “I never wanted to be powerful.”</p>
<p>“Obviously.”</p>
<p>“Asajj, you know I loved you like a daughter.”</p>
<p>“Shut up!” she hissed. Her heart ached.</p>
<p>“You deserve happiness.” He clasped her hands in his, and she felt like a child again, but couldn’t bring herself to move. “Asajj, you always have a choice to be better. You always have the choice to pick the right path. You – ” He broke off, staring at something over her shoulder.</p>
<p>Ventress couldn’t turn around. She bristled. Ky pulled her behind him, igniting his own green blade to defend her from – something.</p>
<p>Her dream warped beyond her control. She fell through the colors that rose up around her, brown soil and green fire and red haze; she fell away from Ky’s cry of “Asajj!”, towards some sort of throaty chanting.</p>
<p>When the spinning stopped, she was surrounded by withered husks of trees, humid mist, a bloodred atmosphere. She knew, but didn’t know, where she was. But she knew she felt safe.</p>
<p>“<em>My</em> <em>child</em>.”</p>
<p>The layered voices confused her, like something out of a distant memory.</p>
<p>Through the reddish mist, a figure solidified. Tall and angular, face like a skull, and robed in red, the woman extended her arms toward Ventress.</p>
<p>“I know you,” Ventress murmured, raising her still-green lightsaber and taking a tentative step.</p>
<p>“<em>I am your past, and your future,</em>” the woman intoned. “<em>You are a child of Dathomir. A Night Sister.</em>”</p>
<p>“Mother Talzin.” The words came without thinking, pulled from her past – or perhaps implanted there. She lowered her saber, a sudden longing building up in her chest.</p>
<p>“<em>The time for you to return home is approaching. When your master turns on you, dear one, seek us out.</em>”</p>
<p>“Dooku would never betray me,” Ventress snapped, even as she wondered if that were true. “I’ve obeyed him, learned from him. He will train me to be more powerful.”</p>
<p>“<em>The Force is but one way to achieve power, and a limited one, at that.</em>” Mother Talzin sounded amused. “<em>The Night Sisters know other methods.</em>”</p>
<p>Ventress scowled and turned away from the figure. “I need to rest, Mother. Please leave. I will consider.”</p>
<p>“<em>Of course, my child. Reach out with your dreams should you need me. I shall wait for you.</em>”</p>
<p>“Why?” Ventress asked, sitting up. She blinked. The dark mountains of Serenno loomed in the distance. The bedsheets were twisted around her, pillows flung across the room. She pulled them back with a sharp tug in the Force and laid down again. Emotions roiled inside her: anger, grief, suspicion, longing, anticipation. Ventress growled and rolled over, forcing her mind blank and letting the blackness take her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>*                            *                            *</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Dooku looked terrible. Sitting at the head of the long dining table, his eyes were puffy, his cheeks sunken. He must have had a fitful sleep.</p>
<p>Ventress slouched near the doorway, watching her master distractedly eat his morning meal, waiting for him to acknowledge her and give her a task.</p>
<p>Dooku passed a hand over his face and breathed deeply. Ventress found herself wondering if the Sith Lord had nightmares. Her lips twitched. Now wouldn’t <em>that</em> be ironic?</p>
<p>“What do you want, Asajj?”</p>
<p>She straightened. “Master?”</p>
<p>He leaned back in the high-backed chair, his face oddly…un-stern. “Once this war is over. What do you intend to do with your life?”</p>
<p>“I…” Such a personal question caught her off-guard. Was he ill? “I haven’t thought much of it. I intend to live,” she said after a moment of consideration, “but that may not be my choice.”</p>
<p>Dooku nodded, frowning at his food. “Many have already died. If it could have been different, I wonder what we might have accomplished.”</p>
<p>Ventress felt unnerved. She made to slip quietly into the hallway.</p>
<p>“Stay, Ventress. Eat with me. I don’t remember the last time I dined with someone.” He gestured dismissively to a serving droid, who wheeled away to retrieve another plate.</p>
<p>Wondering if she was walking into a trap, Ventress eased into the place on Dooku’s right side. She glanced sideways at him and caught his eye. The ghost of a smile haunted his face, the lines around his face slack, his eyes distant. He must have had a <em>very</em> rough night.</p>
<p>“You have great potential, Ventress,” he said, his deep voice losing none of its edge. “Once the war is over, I expect we’ll be able to find you a place in the galaxy.”</p>
<p>“Thank you, Master,” she mumbled. As the serving droid brought her food, her thoughts drifted to the rocky mountains of Rattatak and the misty red land of Dathomir. She wasn’t foolish enough to consider that her future lie on either of those wastelands. But perhaps a step back to her past would give her stable footing for an even greater leap…</p>
<p>Dooku was speaking. Her mind snapped back to the present.</p>
<p>“I have been lax in your lightsaber training as of late. We will review the basics, and then I will see how you have improved.”</p>
<p>Ventress ducked her head to hide her smile. She’d studied lightsaber forms in her spare time, and incorporated her own spin on several of them. She felt confident it would surprise and impress her master.</p>
<p>They ate quietly, and Ventress felt more at ease than she had in a long time.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is a piece I wrote as a possibility for a Clone Wars found family zine. I decided to go with something else instead.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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